“There was a sudden stillness like the gap between ticks on a clock, but the next tick never coming.”

“I remember people saying: 'You look funny, your hair is so black, you have a flat nose,' but I didn't think of it being racism, and I still don't. But there was a sense of difference, of being an outsider.”

“I've always thought it was important not to attach too much superstition to the space where you're writing, because once you get into the mindset that you can only do it a certain way in a certain place, your creativity can get blocked.”

“It's not a romance, it's a love story.”

“There was a sudden stillness like the gap between ticks on a clock, but the next tick never coming.”